EXCLUSIVE: Did nun vote for dead colleague?

Feb. 21, 2013

Written by

Barry M. Horstman

A Greater Cincinnati nun is suspected of illegally casting a ballot for another nun who died before last November’s election, a new case of alleged vote fraud that emerged as local officials move to wrap up their investigation into election improprieties last fall.

Sister Rose Marie Hewitt, 78, died Oct. 4 after a 59-year career as a Sister of Charity that included service in schools here and across the country, as well as in various other positions in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Although her death occurred before absentee ballots had been mailed to voters throughout Hamilton County, a completed ballot was returned to the elections board in Hewitt’s name.

Officials believe the ballot was sent by another local Sister of Charity who was a friend of Hewitt and is registered at the same Delhi Township address. That person cast her own vote at her polling place on Election Day.

In a Feb. 19 letter to elections board members, county Prosecutor Joe Deters said a preliminary investigation has turned up “sufficient information ... to determine that there is probable cause to believe that criminal activity has occurred.”

The Enquirer left messages Wednesday but did not hear back from the second individual, who is a dean at the College of Mount St. Joseph.

Elections board staffers have been aware of the matter since earlier this month. But details were concealed until The Enquirer this week pressed for public release of documents outlining what occurred in it and other cases.

When dozens of alleged cases of double-voting and other alleged improprieties emerged after last November’s presidential race, election officials routinely made records relating to those episodes available to the news media.

But the county prosecutor’s office recently advised the elections board that such documents are investigatory records not necessarily subject to public disclosure.

That policy has since hidden new details in previously known cases from public view as well as the fresh case involving the legally problematic vote in Hewitt’s name.

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But at a meeting with Deters’ staff Wednesday prompted by The Enquirer’s request, county Democratic Party head Tim Burke and Republican leader Alex Triantafilou – chairman and vice chairman respectively of the elections board – said they preferred to release the documents.

The prosecutor’s staff told the two elections officials they were within their discretion to do so, and the documents related to the nuns’ case finally were made available to The Enquirer late Wednesday.

“We’ve been trying to do everything in an open and transparent way,” Burke said.

In Deters’ letter, the prosecutor advised elections officials to conduct no further investigation in the case.

The advice raised concerns that it might appear that the case was receiving different treatment from those involving other voters and a poll worker simply because it deals with two nuns.

“We want everyone treated the same way,” Burke said. Within a few days, however, prosecutors may take over several other cases, Burke said.

In prior stories dealing with alleged vote fraud, The Enquirer has not named individuals accused until they appear at board hearings to offer explanations or until formal charges are filed. That is why the woman suspected of mailing in Hewitt’s absentee ballot is not being identified at this stage.

The timetable in this case makes it clear that the absentee ballot returned under Hewitt's name could not have been cast by her.

The same day that Hewitt died, Oct. 4, was the date that elections board officials dropped off her absentee ballot and about 60,000 others at the post office, for delivery presumably a day or two later.

But the completed absentee ballot that the board received back on Oct. 11 included an identification envelope with a signature purporting to be Hewitt’s and was dated Oct. 3 – before ballots had been delivered to voters’ homes.

The circumstances are similar to another case scheduled to be reviewed by elections officials Friday. In this case, a Loveland man is suspected of improperly signing and filling out a ballot for his 75-year-old wife after she, too, died several days before the absentees were delivered.

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At Friday’s meeting, the elections board is scheduled to review about 10 cases in which those suspected of double-voting or other improper behavior last fall have been subpoenaed for a final opportunity to explain their actions and avoid possible charges.

Because the case involving the nuns already is in prosecutors’ hands, it will not be among those heard Friday at the elections board office Downtown.

Overall, the board is examining about 20 allegations of possible vote fraud, roughly one-fourth of the cases initially reviewed. While that number is miniscule compared with the nearly 422,000 votes cast countywide last fall, it is sizable in terms of vote fraud. The last vote fraud prosecution in Hamilton County is believed to have occurred in 2008.

In most of the dismissed cases from last November, the double votes stemmed from elderly voters' confusion or voters’ concern that their absentee ballots would not reach the board in time to vote, prompting them to vote a provisional ballot at the polls, cast when there are questions over voters’ eligibility.

After Friday’s hearings, elections officials may decide which cases to forward to prosecutors.